How I use Minecraft to help kids with autism | Stuart Duncan

Translator: Iker Dorribo Reviewer: traduceTED USC

Chámome Stuart Duncan,

pero a xente en liña coñéceme como “AutismFather” (pai autismo).

Ese son eu en Internet.

My name is Stuart Duncan,

Son cuspidiño a el, non si?

but I'm actually probably better known online as "AutismFather."

(Risas)

Hoxe vouvos falar un pouco sobre Minecraft.

That's me on the internet.

Ese é o meu personaxe en Minecraft.

Non vos preocupedes se non coñecedes este videoxogo.

I know the resemblance is uncanny.

(Laughter)

Só foi unha ferramenta que usei daquela para acadar o meu obxectivo.

But I'm going to talk a little bit today about Minecraft.

That's my Minecraft character.

O tema do que vou falar pódese aplicar a calquera situación.

If you don't know the game very well, don't worry too much about it.

Hai uns catro anos, creei un servidor de Minecraft

It's just the medium that I used at the time to fill a need.

para nenos e nenas con autismo e as súas familias,

And what I want to talk about applies to pretty much every situation.

chamado Autcraft.

So about four years ago, I started a Minecraft server

Dende entón, aparecemos nas noticias dun cento de países:

na televisión, na radio e nas revistas.

for children with autism and their families,

Buzzfeed chamounos “un dos mellores lugares en todo Internet”.

and I called it "Autcraft."

And since then, we've been in the news all around the world,

Tamén escribiron un famoso artigo de investigación sobre nós chamado

on television and radio and magazines.

“O uso de Minecraft como tecnoloxía para axudar á mocidade autista”.

Buzzfeed called us "one of the best places on the internet."

O nome é un pouco longo,

We're also the subject of an award-winning research paper called

pero creo que entendedes o que quero dicir.

"Appropriating Minecraft as an Assistive Technology for Youth with Autism."

Quero falar un pouco sobre ese artigo

e sobre o que trata,

It's a bit of a mouthful.

pero primeiro contareivos un pouco da historia do servidor.

But you get the idea, I think.

So I want to talk a little bit about that research paper

En 2013, todo o mundo xogaba a Minecraft,

and what it's about,

tanto nenos como adultos, con e sen autismo, por suposto.

but first I have to give you a little bit of history

on how the server came to be.

Back in 2013, everybody was playing Minecraft,

Era a moda do momento.

Pero vin a familias nas redes sociais preguntando a outras

kids and adults alike,

familias se os seus nenos autistas podían xogar xuntos,

with and without autism, of course.

porque cando tentaban xogar en servidores públicos,

But it was the big thing.

But I saw parents on social media reaching out to other parents,

topábanse con abusóns e troles.

asking if their autistic children could play together.

A xente con autismo compórtase dun xeito un tanto diferente,

And the reason is that when they tried to play on public servers,

ás veces moi diferente.

E todos sabemos que unha pequena diferenza basta para converterse

they kept running into bullies and trolls.

When you have autism, you behave a little differently sometimes,

na próxima vítima dun abusón.

En liña, estas persoas tan terribles

sometimes a lot differently.

And we all know a little bit of difference is all you really need

destruían todo o que tentaban facer,

for a bully to make you their next target.

roubaban as súas cousas

e matábanos constantemente, co que gozar

So these terrible, terrible people online,

do xogo era imposible.

they would destroy everything that they tried to make,

Pero o peor de todo, o máis cruel de todo isto,

they would steal all their stuff,

era o que estes abusóns lles dicían aos nenos.

and they would kill them over and over again,

Chamábanlles inadaptados, defectuosos e retrasados

making the game virtually unplayable.

But the worst part, the part that really hurt the most,

was what these bullies would say to these kids.

e dicíanlles a estes nenos, algúns deles de apenas 6 anos,

They'd call them rejects

que a sociedade os odia,

and defects

e que os seus pais non querían un neno defectuoso,

and retards.

así que deberían suicidarse.

And they would tell these kids, some as young as six years old,

Obviamente, estes nenos

that society doesn't want them,

saían destes servidores enfadados e doídos.

and their own parents never wanted a broken child,

Rompían os seus teclados e odiábanse a si mesmos,

so they should just kill themselves.

And of course, these kids, you understand,

e os seus pais non sabían que facer.

they would sign off from these servers angry and hurt.

Así que decidín axudalos.

They would break their keyboards, they'd quite literally hate themselves,

Eu son autista, e tamén o meu primoxénito,

and their parents felt powerless to do anything.

e tanto eu como os meus fillos amamos Minecraft,

So I decided I had to try and help.

así que tiña que facer algo.

I have autism,

Entón, creei un servidor de Minecraft,

my oldest son has autism,

and both my kids and I love Minecraft,

e nel construín unha pequena aldea, algúns camiños,

so I have to do something.

un cartel de benvida, unha cabana no cume dunha montaña…

So I got myself a Minecraft server,

Tentei facelo acolledor.

and I spent some time, built a little village with some roads

A idea era sinxela:

só poderían entrar no servidor aqueles que eu aprobase

and a big welcome sign and this guy and a lodge up on a mountaintop,

e vixiaría o servidor o máximo posible

and tried to make it inviting.

para asegurarme de que todo estivese ben.

The idea was pretty simple.

I had a white list, so only people that I approved could join,

E xa está: conseguir que os nenos tivesen un lugar seguro no que xogar.

and I would just monitor the server as much as I could,

Cando rematei, abrín Facebook

e publiquei unha pequena mensaxe privada, só para os meus amigos,

just to make sure that nothing went wrong.

And that was it, that was the whole promise: to keep the kids safe

porque quería saber se a alguén lle interesaba,

e se axudaría a alguén.

so they could play.

When it was done, I went to Facebook

Ao parecer, subestimei moito a necesidade que había de algo así,

and posted a pretty simple message to my friends list, not publicly.

porque en 48 horas recibín 750 correos.

I wanted to see if there was any interest in this,

and if it really could help.

E non, non teño tantos amigos en Facebook.

Turns out that I greatly underestimated just how much this was needed,

(Risas)

No transcurso de 8 días, tiven que cambiar de paquete de hospedaxe 8 veces,

because within 48 hours, I got 750 emails.

do máis barato ao máis caro que había,

I don't have that many Facebook friends.

e agora, case 4 anos máis tarde,

(Laughter)

aceptei no servidor 8000 persoas de todos os países.

Within eight days, I had to upgrade the hosting package eight times,

Pero o que veño contarvos hoxe non é só

from the bottom package to the most expensive package they had,

que lles din aos nenos un lugar onde xogar,

and now, almost four years later,

I have 8,000 names on the white list from all around the world.

tamén o que pasou mentres xogaban.

Os pais comezaron a dicirme

But the reason I'm up here today to talk to you

que os fillos aprendían a ler e escribir no servidor.

isn't just because I gave kids a safe place to play.

Ao principio, escribían o que escoitaban, algo habitual nos nenos,

It's what happened while they played.

pero ao estar nunha comunidade,

I started hearing from parents

vían outras persoas que escribían ben as palabras

who said their children were learning to read and write

e aprenderon delas.

by playing on the server.

At first they spelled things by sound, like most kids do,

Outros pais dicían que os seus fillos autistas non verbais

but because they were part of a community,

comezaran a falar.

Só falaban sobre Minecraft, pero falaban.

they saw other people spelling the same words properly

(Risas)

and just picked it up.

I started hearing from parents who said that their nonverbal children

Algúns nenos mesmo fixeron amigos por primeira vez na escola.

were starting to speak.

Outros compartían ou mesmo facían agasallos aos demais. Foi incrible.

They only talked about Minecraft, but they were talking.

E todos aqueles pais dixéronme que era grazas a Autcraft,

(Laughter)

Some kids made friends at school for the first time ever.

ao que estaba facendo.

Pero como pasou todo isto só por un servidor dun videoxogo?

Some started to share, even give things to other people.

It was amazing.

And every single parent came to me and said it was because of Autcraft,

A resposta está naquel artigo do que falaba antes.

because of what you're doing.

Nel, falan dalgunhas das normas que creei para o servidor,

But why, though?

How could all of this be just from a video game server?

que creo que animan os demais a ser a mellor versión deles mesmos,

Well, it goes back to that research paper I was talking about.

ou iso espero.

In it, she covers some of the guidelines I used when I created the server,

Por exemplo, comunicación.

Os nenos con autismo pásano mal.

Os adultos sen autismo tamén.

guidelines that I think help encourage people to be their very best.

Pero creo que non debemos castigar os nenos,

I hope.

For example, communication.

senón falar con eles.

It can be tough for kids with autism.

Case sempre, cando os nenos se portan mal no servidor,

It could be tough for grown-ups without autism.

é porque lles pasou algo na escola ou na casa ou quizais

But I think that kids should not be punished,

morreu a súa mascota.

they should be talked to.

Ás veces hai un problema de comunicación entre nenos.

Nine times out of ten, when the kids on the server act out,

Igual un non avisa o outro antes de facer algo.

it's because of something that's happened in the day at school or home.

Así que os axudamos.

Sempre lles dicimos que non estamos enfadados,

Maybe a pet died.

Sometimes it's just a miscommunication between two kids.

que non están en problemas,

que só queremos axudar.

One doesn't say what they're about to do.

E iso amósalles que nos importan

And so we just offer to help.

e que os respectamos, que escoitamos a súa opinión.

We always tell the children on the server that we're not mad,

O respecto é esencial.

and they're not in trouble;

Amais, aprenden que xa teñen o que precisan

we only want to help.

And it shows that not only do we care,

para resolver estes problemas sós no futuro

but we respect them enough to listen to their point of view.

e mesmo evitalos grazas á comunicación.

Respect goes a long way.

Plus, it shows them that they have everything they need

Nos servidores, e nos videoxogos,

to be able to resolve these problems on their own in the future

os nenos, ou os xogadores, adoitan ser recompensados

and maybe even avoid them, because, you know, communication.

por como quedan nunha competición, non si?

On most servers, as video games are,

Os mellores reciben mellores recompensas.

Isto pódese facer de xeito automático, grazas ao código do servidor,

children are rewarded, well, players are rewarded,

pero en Autcraft é distinto.

for how well they do in a competition, right?

Temos títulos como Xogador da Semana ou PSX,

The better you do, the better reward you get.

que significa Pillado Sendo Xenial.

That can be automated; the server does the work, the code is there.

(Risas)

Outorgamos rangos aos xogadores baseados no seu comportamento,

On Autcraft, we don't do that.

We have things like "Player of the Week" and "CBAs,"

como o rango Amigo para aqueles que son amables cos demais,

which is "Caught Being Awesome."

(Laughter)

e Axudante Júnior para os que axudan aos demais.

We award players ranks on the servers based on the attributes they exhibit,

Axudante Sénior é para os adultos.

such as the "Buddy" rank for people who are friendly towards others,

Pero é obvio, non si?

and "Junior Helper" for people that are helpful towards others.

Todos saben como funcionan os rangos e como conseguilos

We have "Senior Helper" for the adults.

só con ler estes nomes.

Nada máis entrar ao servidor,

But they're obvious, right?

todos saben que se lles recompensará por quen son

Like, people know what to expect and how to earn these things

e non polo que poden facer.

because of how they're named.

O maior premio, a espada AutismFather,

As soon as somebody signs onto the server,

que ten o meu nome porque son o fundador do servidor,

they know that they're going to be rewarded for who they are

é unha espada moi poderosa que só podes conseguir

and not what they can do.

se amosas que priorizas completamente á comunidade antes que a ti,

Our top award, the AutismFather Sword,

which is named after me because I'm the founder,

e que a compaixón e a amabilidade son parte de ti.

is a very powerful sword that you can't get in the game any other way

De feito, xa outorgamos varias destas espadas.

than to show that you completely put the community above yourself,

Creo que, se estamos vixiando o servidor para que nada malo pase,

and that compassion and kindness is at the core of who you are.

tamén deberiamos recoñecer as boas accións e premialas.

We've given away quite a few of those swords, actually.

Sempre tentamos mostrar aos xogadores

I figure, if we're watching the server to make sure nothing bad happens,

que todos somos iguais, eu incluído,

we should also watch for the good things that happen and reward people for them.

pero tamén sabemos que non podemos tratar a todos por igual.

Algúns xogadores enfádanse con facilidade

We're always trying to show all the players

e outros teñen problemas amais do autismo, como TOC ou síndrome de Tourette.

that everybody is considered to be equal, even me.

But we know we can't treat people equally to do that.

Some of the players get angry very easily.

Eu teño un don para lembrarme de todos os xogadores.

Some of them have additional struggles on top of autism,

Lémbrome do seu primeiro día, das nosas conversas,

such as OCD or Tourette's.

das cousas sobre as que falamos e do que creamos.

So, I have this knack of remembering all of the players.

Por isto, cando alguén me pide axuda cun problema,

trato a súa situación de forma distinta a outra,

I remember their first day, the conversations we've had,

baseándome no que sei desta persoa.

things we've talked about, things they've built.

Para os outros administradores e axudantes, documentámolo todo

So when somebody comes to me with a problem,

I handle that situation differently than I would with any other player,

para que, sexa algo bo, malo ou unha conversa preocupante,

estea aí, para que todos a vexan.

based on what I know about them.

For the other admins and helpers, we document everything

Quero amosarvos un exemplo en concreto.

so that, whether it's good or bad or a concerning conversation,

Un xogador estivo connosco durante un tempo,

pero nun momento dado comezou a escribir guións no chat repetidamente,

it's there, so everybody is aware.

unha gran liña de guións que ocupaba toda a pantalla.

I want to give you one example of this one player.

He was with us for a little while,

Un pouco máis tarde, volvía facelo.

Os demais xogadores pedíanlle que parase, el dicía “vale”

but at some point he started spamming dashes in the chat,

e despois volvía facelo.

like a big long line of dashes all the way across the screen.

Os xogadores comezaron a frustrarse

A little while later, he'd do it again.

e pedíronme que o silenciase ou castigase por incumprir as normas,

The other players asked him not to do that, and he'd say, "OK."

pero eu sabía que facía isto por algo.

And then he'd do it again.

Por iso, fun falar coa súa tía, o contacto que teño para el,

It started to frustrate the other players.

They asked me to mute him or to punish him for breaking the rules,

e dixo que o neno perdera a visión nun ollo e estaba a perdela no outro.

but I knew there had to be something more to it.

Por isto, estaba separando o chat

So I went to his aunt, who is the contact that I have for him.

en bloques de texto para ver máis facilmente,

moi intelixente pola súa parte.

She explained that he had gone blind in one eye

Esa noite, falei cun amigo meu que sabe escribir código

and was losing his vision in the other.

So what he was doing was splitting up the chat

e creamos un novo complemento para o servidor,

into easier-to-see blocks of text,

que permite que calquera xogador do servidor,

which is pretty smart.

incluído este rapaz,

So that very same night, I talked to a friend of mine who writes code

puidese separar cada liña de diálogo con guións mediante un simple comando.

and we created a brand-new plug-in for the server

that makes it so that any player on the server,

Ademais, pódense separar con asteriscos ou espazos,

including him, of course,

o que queiran e lles vaia mellor.

could just enter a command and instantly have every single line

Ata engadimos unha función máis, a opción de salientar o seu nome

separated by dashes.

para ver máis fácil se alguén os menciona no chat.

Plus, they can make it asterisks or blank lines

or anything they want -- whatever works best for them.

Isto é un pequeno exemplo de que facer algo extra,

We even went a little bit extra and made it so it highlights your name,

unha pequena modificación,

promove a igualdade de condicións,

so that it's easier to see if somebody mentions you.

aínda que sexa unha axudiña a alguén concreto.

It's just one example of how doing a little bit extra,

O principal é que non haxa medo.

a small modification,

still helps everybody be on equal footing,

Os nenos do meu servidor non teñen medo,

even though you did a little extra just for that one player.

son libres de ser eles mesmos,

porque nos apoiamos, animamos e celebramos mutuamente.

The big one is to be not afraid.

The children on my server are not afraid.

Todos sabemos como se sente ser un marxinado

They are free to just be themselves,

e ser odiado simplemente por existir,

and it's because we support and encourage and celebrate each other.

e por iso, cando estamos xuntos no servidor, xa non temos medo.

We all know what it feels like to be the outcast

Durante os primeiros dous anos do servidor,

cada semana falei, máis ou menos, con dous nenos con pensamentos suicidas.

and to be hated simply for existing,

and so when we're together on the server, we're not afraid anymore.

Pero viñeron a min porque era o único que os facía sentir seguros,

For the first two years or so on the server,

sentían que era a única persoa coa que podían falar.

I talked to two children per week on average that were suicidal.

Creo que o que quero dicir é:

But they came to me because I'm the one that made them feel safe.

non importa se tes unha ONG ou outra institución benéfica,

They felt like I was the only person in the world they could talk to.

se es profesor ou psicólogo,

ou un pai ou nai que está esforzándose ao máximo,

So I guess my message is:

ou se es autista coma min,

whether you have a charity or some other organization,

non importa quen sexas.

Tes que axudar a estes nenos a librarse deses medos

or you're a teacher or a therapist

or you're a parent who is just doing your very best,

antes de facer nada máis,

or you're an autistic, like I am,

porque outra cousa sentirase forzada, a menos que non teñan medo.

no matter who you are,

you absolutely must help these children strip away those fears

Por isto, o reforzo positivo sempre será mellor

que calquera castigo.

before you do anything else,

because anything else is going to feel forced

Queren aprender cando se senten seguros e felices,

unless they're not afraid.

e pasa espontaneamente, sen tentalo sequera.

It's why positive reinforcement will always do better

Os nenos describiron o servidor con todas estas palabras.

than any form of punishment.

They want to learn when they feel safe and happy.

Se quedades cunha única idea de todo isto, que sexa que,

It just happens naturally; they don't even try to learn.

independentemente das dificultades polas que estea pasando alguén,

These are words from the kids on the server to describe the server.

se están sufrindo acoso escolar ou na casa,

The one thing I would hope that you could take away

se está a cuestionarse a súa sexualidade ou o seu xénero,

is that no matter what somebody else is going through in life right now,

o cal pasa moito na comunidade autista,

whether they're being bullied at school or at home,

se se sente só ou ten pensamentos suicidas,

if they're questioning their sexuality or even their gender,

tes que vivir a vida de modo que

which happens a lot in the autism community,

esa persoa sinta que pode falar contigo.

if they're feeling alone or even suicidal,

Ten que sentirse completamente segura ao falar contigo.

you have to live your life in such a way

Se queredes ver un grupo de nenos autistas,

that that person feels like they can come to and tell you.

os cales a sociedade pensa que son antisociais

They have to feel perfectly safe in talking to you about it.

e carentes de empatía,

xuntarse e formar a comunidade máis compasiva,

If you want to see a group of autistic children --

amigable e xenerosa que xamais vísedes,

kids who society wrongly thinks are supposed to be antisocial

un lugar que será cualificado como un

and lacking in empathy --

if you want to see them come together and build the most compassionate

dos mellores lugares de todo Internet, conseguirano.

Comprobeino, estou alí todos os días.

and friendly and generous community you've ever seen,

the kind of place that people would write about

Pero hai algúns obstáculos enormes que teñen que superar para acadar isto,

as one of the best places on the internet,

they'll do that.

e axudaría moitísimo ter alguén alí que puidese

I've seen it.

I'm there every day.

amosarlles que o único que deben temer son as súas inseguridades.

But they have some huge obstacles that they have to overcome to do that,

Supoño que vos estou pedindo que sexades así con eles

and it would be really helpful to have somebody there

porque, para eles, para estes nenos,

who could help to show them that the only thing they really have to fear

is self-doubt.

significa todo.

So I guess I'm asking you to please be that person for them,

Moitas grazas a todos.

because to them,

(Aplausos)

those kids --

it means everything.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)